Huanglong the Yellow Dragon in Sichuan - World Heritage Site

Whilst most people were indulged in their sweet dreams, the 37 of us had to wake up in reluctance on morning call at 4.30 am. We were on our way to board the internal flight from Chengdu to Huanglong, another world famous landscape in Jiuzhaigou, China. On arrival, we were transferred and traveled in a coach, still half-dazed!

The journey was an eye-opener to me who for the first time, was so close to snow-capped mountains. The sacrifice of sleep was worth all the while.


The long and windy journey up Huanglong mountain was lined with majestic snow-capped mountains. Huanglong is continuation of the Himalayan Alpine range which is located in Asia in the countries of Nepal, Tibet (China), India, Pakistan and Bhutan.

Reached the foothill of Huanglong after 90 minutes of coach ride in a cold harsh weather of 5o C. Huanglong is about 3,000 - 3,600 meters above sea level. Tourists can choose to climb to its top, alongside a 4.6 meter-long plank road. This normally takes an average 3 hours. Very often, due to its altitude, mini-oxygen tanks are made available for critical use, or for the weak hearts. An easier alternative is to take a cable car up to the top of the hill and climb downhill to enjoy the scenery.


Tourists climbing a 4.6 meter-long plank road. Even with the help of this facility, up-hill climbing is still very demanding and challenging. Most of us had to carry our mini oxygen tanks to standby in case of emergency.

The Huanglong National park is famous for its thousands of colorful, crystal clear ponds along its 3.6 km long yellow river meandering through the mountain valleys. These colorful ponds are like the scales of a dragon, and thus the name Yellow Dragon.


Jade-like crystal clear water reflecting the soft green hue from the bottom of the calcite ponds. Just within this small plot, there were about 15 smaller ponds as I counted.

The colorful pools of blue, yellow, white and green formed by calcite deposits not only make the park scenic, but unique, constituting one of the most magnificent landscape in the world . Huanglong was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1992. The most spectacular view is the Wuchaizi or (Five-coloured Pond), at the highest point of 3600m, is studded with terraced, colored limestone ponds in shades of blue, brown, yellow and green.



More majestic colorful ponds at the mountain tops. Unfortunately only a handful of us managed to conquer! Excuse: Lack of time and cold weather, ha..excuse?!


Equally well-known here are the diverse forest ecosystems, luxuriant forests, multi-hued flowers, snow-capped peaks, canyons, waterfalls and hot springs. Huanglong is also home to many endangered species including the Giant Panda and the Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey.


Stopped at a sunnier spot to appreciate the multi mini waterfalls trickling downhill. In winter, one really treasure the presence of the Sun.




We were in thick clothing to combat the harsh weather. Lucky i brought the 'Russian' hat with me. Though too big for my head, was much needed to cover my EARS! From left: Kong, Lan, Me and Xiang. Behind are the yellow-colored calcite ponds.


While waiting for other team-mates to return, we happy very delighted at the sighting of a wooden shack, serving authentic local villagers' food.


This beef noodle which I ate was sooo....delicious. Just served with the simple Chinese chili oil made a noodle lover like me still thinking of having more and more, though now back in Malaysia!



Kong's food exploration. Notice the roti-chanai-like pancake. It looked simple, but it was really very delicious, one of the ingredients was a locally grown vegetable, called 'qing ker' vegetable


More Huanglong pictures to lure you there

More Huanglong pictures in my facebook